We Learn Nothing by Tim Kreider (March 2017)
I wrote about this essay collection a few months ago. I enjoyed it so much I vowed to reread it in order to take notes. For once on TOA, I followed through on what I said I would do.
We Learn Nothing is a memorable collection that covers a wide range of topics- mental disorder, politics, sex changes, and junior high school social dynamics. But most of the chapters share an underlying sadness- each acknowledges in its own way how forces outside individual control pull people away from each other. Kreider writes of the difficulty of these separations with perspective, wit, and irreverence. He often bookends his essays with cartoons that point out the most hilarious aspect of his viewpoint.
One idea highlights the main concept best. Kreider writes of being 'broken up with' by a friend. But unlike the romantic equivalent, a friend break up is a non-event. Kreider concluded that the friendship was over after many months of unreturned calls, ignored messages, and assurances from mutual acquaintances that (insert name of former friend here) was doing 'just great'. Friendship, the most voluntary of activities, seems doomed to end without ceremony.
I related to the idea immediately. Over the course of just a few post-college years, I can look at a number of friendships that ended in such fashion. Some of these friends lived far away and I simply did not make the effort to keep in touch. Others lived within walking distance yet the excuses for not catching up were more plentiful than occasions to get together.
Why does such a thing happen? The obvious answer is that someone changes. When this happens, the terms a relationship was built on no longer apply. The challenge is posed, usually to one party more so than the other, to change in order to preserve the friendship.
It is easy to be open-minded when it costs little. Kreider cites an example of this that intrigued me. As a child, I read or heard many stories about The Lone Voice Of Reason. This figure was often met with ridicule or dismissal- until the end of the story, that is, when the dissenting figure was proven to be right all along.
It never quite plays out like this in real life, though. Those who fail to play out their assigned roles are quickly tossed aside by those who, though fully content to speak of high-minded ideals when they have to give up nothing, fail to live up to their own standards when something tangible is suddenly on the line.
One up: The idea that the stories people grow up with do not fully carry over into 'real life' is a lesser but still important theme of the book. Kreider points out that though many favor 'the bold romantic gesture', this is often advocated by those who envision Prince Charming himself as part of the equation.
In reality, the line between The Bold Romantic Gesture and stalking is perhaps a little thinner than is portrayed in certain books or movies.
One down: I thought a couple of the essays dragged out. Readers who do not enjoy the author's voice have my blessing to skip to the next chapter in such cases.
An example from his essay about peak oil highlights my point. In this essay, Kreider refers to a friend who is trying to convince everyone around him of imminent doomsday. Referring to a nine page long email, Kreider remarks along the lines that although there was nothing unreasonable in the email, a nine page long email is unreasonable.
The same idea might apply to a couple of the essay topics- though an essay on the matter is reasonable, the length of the essay is less so. Given his considerable skills as a cartoonist, I'm sure he would have found a way to get his points across in a book three-fourths the length.
Just saying: Kreider brings politics into this collection from time to time, an unsurprising development for those familiar with his work as satirical cartoonist during the Bush administration. His 'anti-Bush' leanings are evident from the start and he wastes no time in extending some specific examples to highlight larger points- in one example, he references the government's response to Hurricane Katrina as ominous evidence of how quickly elites will leave behind the unprivileged if properly motivated to do so.
And yet, Kreider brings some unexpected balance to his viewpoints. He cites, for example, that Bush tripled humanitarian aid in Africa. And in reference to those on both sides of a divisive issue, Kreider concedes that many seem to choose sides applying the same criteria high-schoolers use to attend parties- who else is going to be there?
Perhaps an insight from an unrelated essay summarizes his thoughts on politics. For some reason, people take their negative moods more seriously than their positive ones. Depression is often cited as clarifying or exposing truth yet euphoria is considered an almost accidental emotion. In assessing the accomplishments of political opponents, the negative is cited as revealing the true person behind the deed, the positive merely an accident, perhaps committed with the cynical intent to win votes or curry favor among the hoodwinked and mindless that form the opposition.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Friday, April 28, 2017
the porter square intersection is still a nightmare, though
For the first time since moving to Beacon Hill, I noticed a change in the length of a walk signal. The intersection of Beacon and Charles Streets- right where Beacon Hill meets the Public Garden and the Boston Common- recently extended the length of its crosswalk signal from sixteen seconds to twenty-two seconds.
It was a long time coming. A lot of pedestrians struggled to make the crossing in time. Often, the light would turn to green while little old ladies, moms with strollers, or unemployed bloggers were still in the crosswalk.
I like the move because the solution directly addresses the problem. There was simply not enough time to cross. So, time was added for crossing. It seems like an obvious approach- identify a problem and address it directly- but I often see indirect measures applied instead.
One notable example is at (a different) Beacon Street in Cambridge. The intersection of Beacon and Kirkland recently saw the length of the yellow light extended from the 'usual' time (two or three seconds) to somewhere around five or six seconds. (1)
The reasoning for the change is obvious, perhaps, but I wonder if experienced drivers will soon start running the yellow light as they become accustomed to its extended length. It seems that, though initially the intersection is 'safer', eventually more cars will accelerate through the yellow than they did prior to the change. After some time, my guess is that traffic will return to pre-adjustment conditions as drivers learn how this one yellow light is an exception to the rest. (2)
To me, the solution for problem intersections seems simple enough- just hold the red light. No one will run a red light even if it is unusually long. But holding the red for an extra beat or two creates wiggle room in case anyone makes an error. And unlike with running a yellow light, running a red light is a much easier law to enforce.
Bike friendly areas tend to extend the red instead of extending the yellow. Other parts of Cambridge already do this. I am not sure why Beacon and Kirkland became an exception (though I do suspect there is a very explainable reason that I am unaware of).
A soccer referee knows that decisions about red and yellow are not made sequentially, not simultaneously. If red makes sense, its red. Only after ruling out red is yellow considered. Stoplight policies at problem intersections would do well to universally adopt such an approach.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. I mean, only if you are really bored, though...
It's not a bad place to hang out and watch for a bit. It's a laugh to see a car stop completely at a yellow light for over two full seconds.
2. True On Average: a boutique applied economics blog...
Granted, this idea of 'pre-adjustment levels' is just my economics degree talking. The idea that users adjust to changes over a period of time and everything returns to 'just the way it was' is a standard feature of many undergraduate economics classes.
In real life, things never settle long enough to return to the starting point. It's like saying an inflated beach ball in a crowded swimming pool will eventually float motionless on the surface- though that might have been the starting condition when the pool opened, the projected return to that condition is challenged by the reality of all the little kids kicking and thrashing and screaming about in the pool. Once those factors are considered, it is probably more likely that the ball will be deflated, kicked out of the water, or taken home by a swimmer.
It was a long time coming. A lot of pedestrians struggled to make the crossing in time. Often, the light would turn to green while little old ladies, moms with strollers, or unemployed bloggers were still in the crosswalk.
I like the move because the solution directly addresses the problem. There was simply not enough time to cross. So, time was added for crossing. It seems like an obvious approach- identify a problem and address it directly- but I often see indirect measures applied instead.
One notable example is at (a different) Beacon Street in Cambridge. The intersection of Beacon and Kirkland recently saw the length of the yellow light extended from the 'usual' time (two or three seconds) to somewhere around five or six seconds. (1)
The reasoning for the change is obvious, perhaps, but I wonder if experienced drivers will soon start running the yellow light as they become accustomed to its extended length. It seems that, though initially the intersection is 'safer', eventually more cars will accelerate through the yellow than they did prior to the change. After some time, my guess is that traffic will return to pre-adjustment conditions as drivers learn how this one yellow light is an exception to the rest. (2)
To me, the solution for problem intersections seems simple enough- just hold the red light. No one will run a red light even if it is unusually long. But holding the red for an extra beat or two creates wiggle room in case anyone makes an error. And unlike with running a yellow light, running a red light is a much easier law to enforce.
Bike friendly areas tend to extend the red instead of extending the yellow. Other parts of Cambridge already do this. I am not sure why Beacon and Kirkland became an exception (though I do suspect there is a very explainable reason that I am unaware of).
A soccer referee knows that decisions about red and yellow are not made sequentially, not simultaneously. If red makes sense, its red. Only after ruling out red is yellow considered. Stoplight policies at problem intersections would do well to universally adopt such an approach.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. I mean, only if you are really bored, though...
It's not a bad place to hang out and watch for a bit. It's a laugh to see a car stop completely at a yellow light for over two full seconds.
2. True On Average: a boutique applied economics blog...
Granted, this idea of 'pre-adjustment levels' is just my economics degree talking. The idea that users adjust to changes over a period of time and everything returns to 'just the way it was' is a standard feature of many undergraduate economics classes.
In real life, things never settle long enough to return to the starting point. It's like saying an inflated beach ball in a crowded swimming pool will eventually float motionless on the surface- though that might have been the starting condition when the pool opened, the projected return to that condition is challenged by the reality of all the little kids kicking and thrashing and screaming about in the pool. Once those factors are considered, it is probably more likely that the ball will be deflated, kicked out of the water, or taken home by a swimmer.
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
one suggestion for better thinking
Hi all,
Paul Graham's essays are the most frequent source of the quotes I feature in my monthly 'talking shits' posts. If the quote refers to a start-up or computer programming, it is a safe bet that it comes from him. My one recommendation to anyone seeking to think more clearly is to go his essay archive and read one essay per day. (Here is a link to the archive.) (1)
There are currently about one hundred and sixty pieces. This works out to exactly half a year of daily essays (because you will skip Sundays). Most of the essays are between three and five minutes of reading, which I think is optimal. Read one, then go outside. (2) (3)
His focus on two main areas suggests his essays will not appeal to a broad audience. But I think there is a strong intersection of his expertise and the average reader's interests.
A 'start-up' is business-talk for 'trying a new way of solving a problem'. Someone who develops a conversational fluency with how start-ups work will find it easier to apply principles like 'launch fast and iterate' to new ideas in their own lives. Like anyone trying to make a change, a start-up must try a new idea (launch a product), adjust according to feedback (release updated versions), and know when it is appropriate to ask someone for help (raise money).
Computer programmers constantly grapple with the question of how to best use a tool or develop a skill to solve a problem. Again, at a general level the concept is relatable. Programmers and everyday people fall victim to the same problem-solving ruts: becoming attached to their favorite methods, preferring to tweak an existing solution rather than starting over, orfalling victim to verbosity that causes the main idea to get lost in a sea of a sentence that is guilty of using too many words.
I like Graham's writing because it cuts right to the core. There is no news in his essays. His writing looks at a situation, cuts away all the distractions, and builds on the remaining truth.
One example is an essay about the death penalty. In this essay, he concedes that a debate about morality is important- is it OK to kill a killer? But he writes that this point is trivial until everyone on death row definitely committed the crime for which they were convicted. Based on the Time Magazine article he cites which estimates that 120 of the current 3,000 inmates on death row are innocent, he concludes that the death penalty must be banned.
Another great essay talks about how immigration policy affects the pool of programming talent in the USA. Graham concludes that great programmers are rarely taught. Rather, they seem to possess a set of characteristics that make them exceptional. If the distribution of these traits is even throughout the world, then the share of exceptional programmers that are American is equal to America's share of world population- 5%. Thus, if American tech companies want to maintain their global advantage, they must either hire immigrants or figure out how to compete with just 5% of the world's talent.
I enjoy reading about start-ups and programming. So, I must admit that my recommendation is biased. But the more I read Graham's writing, the more I find his clear logic disrupting my thought process.
So, I think it's worth trying his essays even if you do not have those interests. The potential rewards for anyone's thinking process are simply too significant to dismiss.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. But of course!
Well, my first recommendation is to subscribe to the TOA email service. Then, read those essays!
2. Which you should!
There are a lot of good reasons for skipping Sundays. The best one I can come up with starts with one of Graham's insights about internet usage.
He compares browsing the internet to walking into a town square. Each is a good mental break from the more pressing problems that require focused attention.
But unlike a walk through downtown, web surfing often closely resembles real work (particularly if web surfing = reading his essays). Better to limit internet consumption so that you are not seduced into thinking you are 'working' when you are actually Wasting Time. And Sunday tends to invite sitting around and reading blogs- so best to avoid starting up altogether.
3. What about the rest of the year?
Read them again?
Reading one of these essays a second time is a safer use of five minutes on the internet than any other 'idea' you might accidentally cook up. But if the impact on thinking is as significant as I suggest, perhaps in a half year's time you will be capable of coming up with your own good alternative.
Paul Graham's essays are the most frequent source of the quotes I feature in my monthly 'talking shits' posts. If the quote refers to a start-up or computer programming, it is a safe bet that it comes from him. My one recommendation to anyone seeking to think more clearly is to go his essay archive and read one essay per day. (Here is a link to the archive.) (1)
There are currently about one hundred and sixty pieces. This works out to exactly half a year of daily essays (because you will skip Sundays). Most of the essays are between three and five minutes of reading, which I think is optimal. Read one, then go outside. (2) (3)
His focus on two main areas suggests his essays will not appeal to a broad audience. But I think there is a strong intersection of his expertise and the average reader's interests.
A 'start-up' is business-talk for 'trying a new way of solving a problem'. Someone who develops a conversational fluency with how start-ups work will find it easier to apply principles like 'launch fast and iterate' to new ideas in their own lives. Like anyone trying to make a change, a start-up must try a new idea (launch a product), adjust according to feedback (release updated versions), and know when it is appropriate to ask someone for help (raise money).
Computer programmers constantly grapple with the question of how to best use a tool or develop a skill to solve a problem. Again, at a general level the concept is relatable. Programmers and everyday people fall victim to the same problem-solving ruts: becoming attached to their favorite methods, preferring to tweak an existing solution rather than starting over, or
I like Graham's writing because it cuts right to the core. There is no news in his essays. His writing looks at a situation, cuts away all the distractions, and builds on the remaining truth.
One example is an essay about the death penalty. In this essay, he concedes that a debate about morality is important- is it OK to kill a killer? But he writes that this point is trivial until everyone on death row definitely committed the crime for which they were convicted. Based on the Time Magazine article he cites which estimates that 120 of the current 3,000 inmates on death row are innocent, he concludes that the death penalty must be banned.
Another great essay talks about how immigration policy affects the pool of programming talent in the USA. Graham concludes that great programmers are rarely taught. Rather, they seem to possess a set of characteristics that make them exceptional. If the distribution of these traits is even throughout the world, then the share of exceptional programmers that are American is equal to America's share of world population- 5%. Thus, if American tech companies want to maintain their global advantage, they must either hire immigrants or figure out how to compete with just 5% of the world's talent.
I enjoy reading about start-ups and programming. So, I must admit that my recommendation is biased. But the more I read Graham's writing, the more I find his clear logic disrupting my thought process.
So, I think it's worth trying his essays even if you do not have those interests. The potential rewards for anyone's thinking process are simply too significant to dismiss.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. But of course!
Well, my first recommendation is to subscribe to the TOA email service. Then, read those essays!
2. Which you should!
There are a lot of good reasons for skipping Sundays. The best one I can come up with starts with one of Graham's insights about internet usage.
He compares browsing the internet to walking into a town square. Each is a good mental break from the more pressing problems that require focused attention.
But unlike a walk through downtown, web surfing often closely resembles real work (particularly if web surfing = reading his essays). Better to limit internet consumption so that you are not seduced into thinking you are 'working' when you are actually Wasting Time. And Sunday tends to invite sitting around and reading blogs- so best to avoid starting up altogether.
3. What about the rest of the year?
Read them again?
Reading one of these essays a second time is a safer use of five minutes on the internet than any other 'idea' you might accidentally cook up. But if the impact on thinking is as significant as I suggest, perhaps in a half year's time you will be capable of coming up with your own good alternative.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
reading review: consider the lobster
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace (February 2017)
Consider the Lobster is Wallace's second nonfiction collection. It covers a wide range of topics, including John McCain's 2000 campaign, talk radio, and (of course) lobsters.
I immediately noticed how Wallace adjusts his writing to fit the demands of his topic. Some essays are written very traditionally- he introduces a topic, explains his thinking, and makes some interesting observations. A couple others are basically delivery vehicles for several giant, occasionally related tangents (disguised as 'footnotes' that take up more space on the page than the main essay). In one essay, the footnotes escape the confines at the bottom of the page and instead camp out anywhere they like, forcing Wallace (or his editor) to draw helpful arrows that crisscross the page until they find wandering thought.
As I read, I understood that Wallace always found a way to get his insights to the reader. In some cases he tweaked the presentation of his essay while in others a traditional format allowed him to make his point. Perhaps this desire to share is reflected in his thought about charity- the best argument for becoming charitable is self-interest because those who hoard become alienated or frightened.
Of course, the main motivation for me in picking up this collection a second time was to read the title essay. The topic of animal cruelty and how it relates to dinner is often on my mind. Wallace approaches the topic without an obvious agenda. He simply points out that not thinking about something is an ineffective way to deal with discomfort. He then gives the reader some ideas to think about. My favorite of these- though it is beyond a human to know if a lobster suffers, it is at least clear that a lobster in a boiling pot shows a preference for being outside of the kettle.
I think such an approach is the mark of great writing. Instead of writing down to a reader by laying out a series of steps, the ideas are packaged concisely and presented to readers for their own consideration.
One up: I've referenced this collection in a couple of other posts (though given the way I schedule posts, I suppose it is possible those have yet to go up) and I apologize if I repeat myself a little bit in this 'one up' section.
As I hit year two on TOA, my focus on technique is increasing. Books like On Writing and The Elements of Style have pointed out a number of ways that I can improve in the coming year. Consider the Lobster was another such work.
Wallace's insights into what he describes as the imperial persona resonated with me. In using 'one' or 'we' as a substitute for 'I', writers distance themselves from the work. There is nothing automatically wrong about distance and the technique works in certain sentences. But it rarely fits with the goals of this blog and I am working hard to distance myself (!) from the 'one/we' construction.
I think his insights into how English evolved will help me improve my writing. The language's Latin roots sometimes cause problems because Latin is a synthetic language (relies on grammatical inflections) while English is an analytical language (word order matters). It suggests that scrutinizing sentence structure is a better starting point for my revisions than worrying about tense or wording.
One down: It is mentioned that leaders get people to do things they know will help and yet remain unable to do on their own. It's the right spirit, I think, but I prefer my own definition for its clarity: A leader identifies potential and teaches or motivates people to reach it.
Just saying: Wallace prints an approximation of the speech he would give to his students who did not write in Standard White English (SWE- his moniker, though one I think is clear without my adding an explanation). He explains, in essence, that the realities of American society make him responsible for teaching students to write in this form of English. Therefore, though students might be writing in a perfectly acceptable dialect of the language, he is going to grade work based on the guidelines of SWE. The speech is in line with his broader point that those aware of elitism, racial insensitivity, or the basic unfairness of life should speak up rather than hide behind euphemisms, doublespeak, or political correctness.
It is a thought-provoking section of the book. Unsurprisingly, Wallace's speech was apparently not met enthusiastically by all recipients. Given that his main point seems inarguable to me, I'll guess that part of this reaction was due to his delivery and/or word selection.
This example highlights the conservative instinct of higher education. Wallace's teaching perhaps deserves more criticism than his speech- to teach a skill because 'that's the way it is' runs counter to the instinct of truth-seeking. A truth-seeking writer has a funny habit of changing 'that's the way it is' into 'that's the way it was'.
Writing changes writing standards, a fact Wallace himself highlights a number of times in the work. But speeches like this one make him seem complicit in a doomed effort to prevent these changes.
Consider the Lobster is Wallace's second nonfiction collection. It covers a wide range of topics, including John McCain's 2000 campaign, talk radio, and (of course) lobsters.
I immediately noticed how Wallace adjusts his writing to fit the demands of his topic. Some essays are written very traditionally- he introduces a topic, explains his thinking, and makes some interesting observations. A couple others are basically delivery vehicles for several giant, occasionally related tangents (disguised as 'footnotes' that take up more space on the page than the main essay). In one essay, the footnotes escape the confines at the bottom of the page and instead camp out anywhere they like, forcing Wallace (or his editor) to draw helpful arrows that crisscross the page until they find wandering thought.
As I read, I understood that Wallace always found a way to get his insights to the reader. In some cases he tweaked the presentation of his essay while in others a traditional format allowed him to make his point. Perhaps this desire to share is reflected in his thought about charity- the best argument for becoming charitable is self-interest because those who hoard become alienated or frightened.
Of course, the main motivation for me in picking up this collection a second time was to read the title essay. The topic of animal cruelty and how it relates to dinner is often on my mind. Wallace approaches the topic without an obvious agenda. He simply points out that not thinking about something is an ineffective way to deal with discomfort. He then gives the reader some ideas to think about. My favorite of these- though it is beyond a human to know if a lobster suffers, it is at least clear that a lobster in a boiling pot shows a preference for being outside of the kettle.
I think such an approach is the mark of great writing. Instead of writing down to a reader by laying out a series of steps, the ideas are packaged concisely and presented to readers for their own consideration.
One up: I've referenced this collection in a couple of other posts (though given the way I schedule posts, I suppose it is possible those have yet to go up) and I apologize if I repeat myself a little bit in this 'one up' section.
As I hit year two on TOA, my focus on technique is increasing. Books like On Writing and The Elements of Style have pointed out a number of ways that I can improve in the coming year. Consider the Lobster was another such work.
Wallace's insights into what he describes as the imperial persona resonated with me. In using 'one' or 'we' as a substitute for 'I', writers distance themselves from the work. There is nothing automatically wrong about distance and the technique works in certain sentences. But it rarely fits with the goals of this blog and I am working hard to distance myself (!) from the 'one/we' construction.
I think his insights into how English evolved will help me improve my writing. The language's Latin roots sometimes cause problems because Latin is a synthetic language (relies on grammatical inflections) while English is an analytical language (word order matters). It suggests that scrutinizing sentence structure is a better starting point for my revisions than worrying about tense or wording.
One down: It is mentioned that leaders get people to do things they know will help and yet remain unable to do on their own. It's the right spirit, I think, but I prefer my own definition for its clarity: A leader identifies potential and teaches or motivates people to reach it.
Just saying: Wallace prints an approximation of the speech he would give to his students who did not write in Standard White English (SWE- his moniker, though one I think is clear without my adding an explanation). He explains, in essence, that the realities of American society make him responsible for teaching students to write in this form of English. Therefore, though students might be writing in a perfectly acceptable dialect of the language, he is going to grade work based on the guidelines of SWE. The speech is in line with his broader point that those aware of elitism, racial insensitivity, or the basic unfairness of life should speak up rather than hide behind euphemisms, doublespeak, or political correctness.
It is a thought-provoking section of the book. Unsurprisingly, Wallace's speech was apparently not met enthusiastically by all recipients. Given that his main point seems inarguable to me, I'll guess that part of this reaction was due to his delivery and/or word selection.
This example highlights the conservative instinct of higher education. Wallace's teaching perhaps deserves more criticism than his speech- to teach a skill because 'that's the way it is' runs counter to the instinct of truth-seeking. A truth-seeking writer has a funny habit of changing 'that's the way it is' into 'that's the way it was'.
Writing changes writing standards, a fact Wallace himself highlights a number of times in the work. But speeches like this one make him seem complicit in a doomed effort to prevent these changes.
Friday, April 21, 2017
reading review- january 2017 clearout, part 2
Hi,
My second set of shorter reviews from my January reading.
Tim
A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy by Miyamoto Musashi
This famous guide to strategy falls into a strange but entertaining niche: over-applied Eastern fighting philosophy. It takes its place alongside other well-known works such as The Art of War but distinguishes itself with its sole focus on an individual's mentality rather than on the larger unit.
Musashi's teaching approach is evident throughout. His philosophy is to lead a student to a place that is just beyond understanding- from there, the student can complete the lesson. He always sought to identify and create connections across professions, believing that specialization obscured the simple truths that defined success and failure across domains.
This book is filled with insight. He notes that those who cover great distances rarely seem to run all day or that skilled navigators only cross rivers at fords. And if you must ever learn to wield one difficult sword, Musashi recommends training with two such weapons, one in each hand.
My favorite idea from this book is The Way of the Warrior: when presented with a choice between life or death, choose death. Perhaps this is best not taken literally (similar mantras have foolishly misled nations, armies, or individuals in the past) but I liked how it highlighted the importance of choice for those trying to live up to higher principles.
When I voice my support for policy moves such as introducing basic income guarantees or implementing universal health insurance, I have this theme about choice in mind. Those who lack alternate means for survival income or find themselves exposed to financial ruin without health insurance cannot choose 'death' in their workplace. If such employees are tasked by employers with something that violates their moral or ethical principles, they simply grit their teeth and do it, forced to choose 'life' for the sake of protecting their income or retaining their healthcare. Add up these little decisions over a full lifetime and it is easy to see how people can take jobs that run directly counter to their outspoken principles.
Upstream by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver's essay collection covers a wide range of topics. Of these, I found her reflections on the craft of writing and her deep meditations on the challenges of daily living the most interesting to me.
For the writer, Oliver sees a great calling to responsibility. The writer must dismiss what merely keeps the world spinning, instead seeking out the eternal and looking to make the connections that move the world forward. Eloquence is important, for without it the writer risks losing significance. Any suggestions within a work must be delivered to readers with kindness and encouragement. I thought Oliver's observations about the universality of incorporating loss and moving on were especially poignant.
One final note I thought worth taking down from this book- don't forget to be whimsical. No need to worry on that, I think.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Early on in this book, Bennett describes how one of her main characters feels in the weeks following the death of her mother. As I read, I remember thinking- that's exactly it...
This novel takes on some big topics that society prefers to shove into the closet, stuffed in boxes labeled 'too complicated' or 'I can't look at this right now' or 'everyone has their own opinion'. These include abortion, suicide, obligation, and regret. Loss is a theme throughout. I thought it more than met the task it set for itself.
The Mothers is not the kind of book that left me in constant excitement about what would happen next (do any mothers?). In certain sections, the plot followed a course I'm sure seasoned readers would find familiar or even predictable. But a curious feeling lingered as I absorbed new scenes, conversations, or observations. The main question I wondered about in these moments was always the same- would I relate to these characters?
It was to my surprise that I often did. It all goes back to how I read about that first experience of loss. I suspect the challenge of getting readers to relate to characters unlike themselves keeps the novelist up at night. I learned from The Mothers that one way to address this issue is to perfectly describe difficult emotions early in the work. A reader who recognizes a familiar feeling within the writing will trust the author through the rest of the work- especially when much of it ventures into the unknown.
My second set of shorter reviews from my January reading.
Tim
A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy by Miyamoto Musashi
This famous guide to strategy falls into a strange but entertaining niche: over-applied Eastern fighting philosophy. It takes its place alongside other well-known works such as The Art of War but distinguishes itself with its sole focus on an individual's mentality rather than on the larger unit.
Musashi's teaching approach is evident throughout. His philosophy is to lead a student to a place that is just beyond understanding- from there, the student can complete the lesson. He always sought to identify and create connections across professions, believing that specialization obscured the simple truths that defined success and failure across domains.
This book is filled with insight. He notes that those who cover great distances rarely seem to run all day or that skilled navigators only cross rivers at fords. And if you must ever learn to wield one difficult sword, Musashi recommends training with two such weapons, one in each hand.
My favorite idea from this book is The Way of the Warrior: when presented with a choice between life or death, choose death. Perhaps this is best not taken literally (similar mantras have foolishly misled nations, armies, or individuals in the past) but I liked how it highlighted the importance of choice for those trying to live up to higher principles.
When I voice my support for policy moves such as introducing basic income guarantees or implementing universal health insurance, I have this theme about choice in mind. Those who lack alternate means for survival income or find themselves exposed to financial ruin without health insurance cannot choose 'death' in their workplace. If such employees are tasked by employers with something that violates their moral or ethical principles, they simply grit their teeth and do it, forced to choose 'life' for the sake of protecting their income or retaining their healthcare. Add up these little decisions over a full lifetime and it is easy to see how people can take jobs that run directly counter to their outspoken principles.
Upstream by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver's essay collection covers a wide range of topics. Of these, I found her reflections on the craft of writing and her deep meditations on the challenges of daily living the most interesting to me.
For the writer, Oliver sees a great calling to responsibility. The writer must dismiss what merely keeps the world spinning, instead seeking out the eternal and looking to make the connections that move the world forward. Eloquence is important, for without it the writer risks losing significance. Any suggestions within a work must be delivered to readers with kindness and encouragement. I thought Oliver's observations about the universality of incorporating loss and moving on were especially poignant.
One final note I thought worth taking down from this book- don't forget to be whimsical. No need to worry on that, I think.
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Early on in this book, Bennett describes how one of her main characters feels in the weeks following the death of her mother. As I read, I remember thinking- that's exactly it...
This novel takes on some big topics that society prefers to shove into the closet, stuffed in boxes labeled 'too complicated' or 'I can't look at this right now' or 'everyone has their own opinion'. These include abortion, suicide, obligation, and regret. Loss is a theme throughout. I thought it more than met the task it set for itself.
The Mothers is not the kind of book that left me in constant excitement about what would happen next (do any mothers?). In certain sections, the plot followed a course I'm sure seasoned readers would find familiar or even predictable. But a curious feeling lingered as I absorbed new scenes, conversations, or observations. The main question I wondered about in these moments was always the same- would I relate to these characters?
It was to my surprise that I often did. It all goes back to how I read about that first experience of loss. I suspect the challenge of getting readers to relate to characters unlike themselves keeps the novelist up at night. I learned from The Mothers that one way to address this issue is to perfectly describe difficult emotions early in the work. A reader who recognizes a familiar feeling within the writing will trust the author through the rest of the work- especially when much of it ventures into the unknown.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
leftovers: the real reason for a full blog
I think the remedy for failures to relate is better sharing. In analyzing my own nature and considering the topics which I write easily about, my ease with sharing my thinking is confirmed by how easily I write about thinking. My writing will improve if I expand my ability to share what I find funny and what I find moving.
It's a difficult process, no doubt about it, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm tempted to pause during difficult moments of writing and I often give in to the temptation. I'm most likely to hit the pause button when the signs of progress are so difficult to see.
In the speech I highlight for the original post, Coach Valvano (like any great coach) prepares his audience for such moments. He concludes his speech with his famous words- "don't give up, don't ever give up". I imagine it is a perfect slogan for The V Foundation, named in his honor, because I suspect the infrequent signs of progress discourage cancer researchers every day.
But despite the uncertainty inherent in any research endeavor, the ethos described by the quote has pushed his foundation forward in its cause. No doubt, countless others have drawn strength from the same words in their own moments of difficulty or darkness. It's never too late to try again, particularly if all you are doing is trying to get a little better. And its never the right time to give up.
Times have changed a great deal since the speech. In 2017, the money dedicated to cancer research is significant. The public understands the importance of the cause and success stories have inspired so many to battle on in their own way. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is out of sight, and until that destination is reached, the ethos of the slogan will drive progress forward.
Not everyone's battles are so significant. Individual difficulties with self, work, or love are trivial in the grand scheme of human suffering. But that does not make those difficulties any less trivial for those in pain. I suppose the individual nature of these personal battles make them seem more daunting. Who is going worry about my itty-bitty Self-Esteem Crisis when cancer is devouring millions around the globe?
That's where the power of relating to others through sharing becomes significant. In taking the time to share what once made me laugh or cry, I'm finding (very surprisingly) that people are drawing strength and courage from it. The gift of offering evidence that difficult moments shall pass is priceless.
Like many skills, though, this ability to relate through sharing won't just be there when I need it. It needs to be honed through practice. It must be the subject of diligent daily effort. The reward is worth it- by cultivating my best self, it will be there when I need it. And so until I reach that place, I won't ever give up.
It's a difficult process, no doubt about it, but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm tempted to pause during difficult moments of writing and I often give in to the temptation. I'm most likely to hit the pause button when the signs of progress are so difficult to see.
In the speech I highlight for the original post, Coach Valvano (like any great coach) prepares his audience for such moments. He concludes his speech with his famous words- "don't give up, don't ever give up". I imagine it is a perfect slogan for The V Foundation, named in his honor, because I suspect the infrequent signs of progress discourage cancer researchers every day.
But despite the uncertainty inherent in any research endeavor, the ethos described by the quote has pushed his foundation forward in its cause. No doubt, countless others have drawn strength from the same words in their own moments of difficulty or darkness. It's never too late to try again, particularly if all you are doing is trying to get a little better. And its never the right time to give up.
Times have changed a great deal since the speech. In 2017, the money dedicated to cancer research is significant. The public understands the importance of the cause and success stories have inspired so many to battle on in their own way. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is out of sight, and until that destination is reached, the ethos of the slogan will drive progress forward.
Not everyone's battles are so significant. Individual difficulties with self, work, or love are trivial in the grand scheme of human suffering. But that does not make those difficulties any less trivial for those in pain. I suppose the individual nature of these personal battles make them seem more daunting. Who is going worry about my itty-bitty Self-Esteem Crisis when cancer is devouring millions around the globe?
That's where the power of relating to others through sharing becomes significant. In taking the time to share what once made me laugh or cry, I'm finding (very surprisingly) that people are drawing strength and courage from it. The gift of offering evidence that difficult moments shall pass is priceless.
Like many skills, though, this ability to relate through sharing won't just be there when I need it. It needs to be honed through practice. It must be the subject of diligent daily effort. The reward is worth it- by cultivating my best self, it will be there when I need it. And so until I reach that place, I won't ever give up.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
reading review: the braindead megaphone
The Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders (February 2017)
This essay collection covers a wide range of topics- the media, Dubai, Mark Twain, border walls along the Rio Grande. Though nonfiction is a departure from Saunders's preferred short story format, I recognized his style immediately and I enjoyed these essays as much as any of his fiction.
The opening piece contributes its title to the collection. Saunders compares mass media to a man at a party blaring continuous nonsense into a megaphone. The man distracts the other guests with the constant noise and makes it impossible for them to form their own thoughts or listen properly to the ideas of their conversation partners.
The comparison brought to mind an idea I really liked from Jane Kenyon- 'have good sentences in your ears'. Each time I read a great phrase, I recognize how it adds to my toolbox for thinking, speaking, and writing. Saunders takes this thought and applies it in reverse- in a well-functioning democracy, keeping bad sentences out of the ears is critical. As he points out in this opening essay, bad sentences tend to come at the highest decibel levels.
The effect is gradual. A car commercial shows a confident driver zipping underwater before pulling into a parking lot to buy The Next New Gadget. Perhaps a swimsuit with built-in GPS? It's expensive, but no matter- the next commercial comes on and reminds viewers that this special credit card has no interest payments for a year if you sign up right now! There is no time, though, because the breathless newscaster is describing how an unusual but plausible conclusion to The Big Game was a 'miracle', the telecast's third use of the word in a half-hour.
Over time, all these sentences fill the ears and the dull the wit. Words that should evoke empathy and compassion- such as 'suffering'- are cheapened by their repeated usage to describe the plight of the perennial loser in the Best Supporting Actor category. When it is time to talk about something important- like the morality of bombing another small village- the ensuing discussion is filled with football metaphors, general consensus that 'our side' is smarter than 'the other side', and an endless stream of verified but disconnected facts. Plus, who cares anyway, since those Damn Oil Prices went up a nickel- the weekend is ruined!
OK- maybe I got a little carried away there. Sorry about that! My little synopsis is not meant to suggest that the collection is a ranting tirade against all things consumerist. That's just my reaction. Saunders includes a couple of other ideas in this work.
People like me write about people like George Saunders because he writes with understanding- that people smacked once will expect to get hit again, that time helps people deal with the very difficult moments, that most people do their best first and try to know better later. He beckons the reader forward to try just a little harder to do better.
In that way, his nonfiction is no different than his fiction. It seems a shame in a way because each essay he works on is time he otherwise could have spent working on potential masterpieces like the Eleventh of December (Tenth of January?) or Taft Is A Lardo. But Saunders's talent is significant and his strengths shine throughout this rewarding work.
One up: Saunders has a funny way of showing up years ahead of a situation. One essay from over a decade ago explores the difficulty of building a true border wall along the Rio Grande and another points out that media tools consumed mostly for time-killing or stimulation will tend to showcase the dramatic at the expense of thoughtful discourse.
I think his idea that today's major divisions- such as race- will eventually vanish due to intermarriage is destined to fall in this category. It might take another few centuries, of course, but that is a different matter.
One down: Readers who expect a book full of GQ-style features will need to revise their expectations. At times, the essays here are indistinguishable from his satirical short fiction. I consider this a plus, actually, but I understand if someone prefers that Saunders write only about 'things that happened' in this type of collection.
Just saying: The implicit agreement between the storyteller and the audience is that the story will be the truth. When profit becomes involved, the agreement shifts subtly- the story is still the truth but only if the truth allows the storyteller to make money. Thus, reliance on profit-driven entities to tell stories requires caution on the part of the consumer.
The idea came to mind as I read David Foster Wallace's essay from Consider the Lobster about talk radio ('Host') two weeks later. It was once against the law for anyone holding a broadcast license to present information of public interest in an 'unbalanced' way. The elimination of this Fairness Doctrine in 1987 ushered in the explosion of left and right wing political talk radio.
The exact reason for the repeal of this law is- surprise!- 'complicated' (AKA = money). Interested readers can refer to Wallace's essay or look for their own answers using this useful productivity tool I found called The Internet.
My only comment on the matter is that radio catering to a specific subset of the population is likely to do better than one which tries to appeal broadly. This comment is based on my own experiences with podcasts- many succeed with a niche audience. I imagine this economic reality came into play for talk radio and the difficulty of profiting under the watchful eye of the Fairness Doctrine led to the pressure for its repeal.
This essay collection covers a wide range of topics- the media, Dubai, Mark Twain, border walls along the Rio Grande. Though nonfiction is a departure from Saunders's preferred short story format, I recognized his style immediately and I enjoyed these essays as much as any of his fiction.
The opening piece contributes its title to the collection. Saunders compares mass media to a man at a party blaring continuous nonsense into a megaphone. The man distracts the other guests with the constant noise and makes it impossible for them to form their own thoughts or listen properly to the ideas of their conversation partners.
The comparison brought to mind an idea I really liked from Jane Kenyon- 'have good sentences in your ears'. Each time I read a great phrase, I recognize how it adds to my toolbox for thinking, speaking, and writing. Saunders takes this thought and applies it in reverse- in a well-functioning democracy, keeping bad sentences out of the ears is critical. As he points out in this opening essay, bad sentences tend to come at the highest decibel levels.
The effect is gradual. A car commercial shows a confident driver zipping underwater before pulling into a parking lot to buy The Next New Gadget. Perhaps a swimsuit with built-in GPS? It's expensive, but no matter- the next commercial comes on and reminds viewers that this special credit card has no interest payments for a year if you sign up right now! There is no time, though, because the breathless newscaster is describing how an unusual but plausible conclusion to The Big Game was a 'miracle', the telecast's third use of the word in a half-hour.
Over time, all these sentences fill the ears and the dull the wit. Words that should evoke empathy and compassion- such as 'suffering'- are cheapened by their repeated usage to describe the plight of the perennial loser in the Best Supporting Actor category. When it is time to talk about something important- like the morality of bombing another small village- the ensuing discussion is filled with football metaphors, general consensus that 'our side' is smarter than 'the other side', and an endless stream of verified but disconnected facts. Plus, who cares anyway, since those Damn Oil Prices went up a nickel- the weekend is ruined!
OK- maybe I got a little carried away there. Sorry about that! My little synopsis is not meant to suggest that the collection is a ranting tirade against all things consumerist. That's just my reaction. Saunders includes a couple of other ideas in this work.
People like me write about people like George Saunders because he writes with understanding- that people smacked once will expect to get hit again, that time helps people deal with the very difficult moments, that most people do their best first and try to know better later. He beckons the reader forward to try just a little harder to do better.
In that way, his nonfiction is no different than his fiction. It seems a shame in a way because each essay he works on is time he otherwise could have spent working on potential masterpieces like the Eleventh of December (Tenth of January?) or Taft Is A Lardo. But Saunders's talent is significant and his strengths shine throughout this rewarding work.
One up: Saunders has a funny way of showing up years ahead of a situation. One essay from over a decade ago explores the difficulty of building a true border wall along the Rio Grande and another points out that media tools consumed mostly for time-killing or stimulation will tend to showcase the dramatic at the expense of thoughtful discourse.
I think his idea that today's major divisions- such as race- will eventually vanish due to intermarriage is destined to fall in this category. It might take another few centuries, of course, but that is a different matter.
One down: Readers who expect a book full of GQ-style features will need to revise their expectations. At times, the essays here are indistinguishable from his satirical short fiction. I consider this a plus, actually, but I understand if someone prefers that Saunders write only about 'things that happened' in this type of collection.
Just saying: The implicit agreement between the storyteller and the audience is that the story will be the truth. When profit becomes involved, the agreement shifts subtly- the story is still the truth but only if the truth allows the storyteller to make money. Thus, reliance on profit-driven entities to tell stories requires caution on the part of the consumer.
The idea came to mind as I read David Foster Wallace's essay from Consider the Lobster about talk radio ('Host') two weeks later. It was once against the law for anyone holding a broadcast license to present information of public interest in an 'unbalanced' way. The elimination of this Fairness Doctrine in 1987 ushered in the explosion of left and right wing political talk radio.
The exact reason for the repeal of this law is- surprise!- 'complicated' (AKA = money). Interested readers can refer to Wallace's essay or look for their own answers using this useful productivity tool I found called The Internet.
My only comment on the matter is that radio catering to a specific subset of the population is likely to do better than one which tries to appeal broadly. This comment is based on my own experiences with podcasts- many succeed with a niche audience. I imagine this economic reality came into play for talk radio and the difficulty of profiting under the watchful eye of the Fairness Doctrine led to the pressure for its repeal.
Friday, April 14, 2017
talking shits, march 2017
Hello!
My collected quotes from March.
Tim
******************
To start with, the Second Law implies that misfortune may be no one’s fault. The biggest breakthrough of the scientific revolution was to nullify the intuition that the universe is saturated with purpose: that everything happens for a reason.
---
Professors and bosses usually feel some sense of responsibility toward you; if you make a valiant effort and fail, they'll cut you a break. Markets are less forgiving. Customers don't care how hard you worked, only whether you solved their problems.
---
An organization that wins by exercising power starts to lose the ability to win by doing better work.
---
If you want to encourage startups in a particular city, you have to fund startups that won't leave. There are two ways to do that: have rules preventing them from leaving, or fund them at the point in their life when they naturally take root. The first approach is a mistake, because it becomes a filter for selecting bad startups.
---
Almost every form of publishing has been organized as if the medium was what they were selling, and the content was irrelevant. Book publishers, for example, set prices based on the cost of producing and distributing books. They treat the words printed in the book the same way a textile manufacturer treats the patterns printed on its fabrics.
---
The consequences of boomer overconsumption, underinvestment, and appetite for risk reveal themselves every time a bridge or bank collapses, but can be summarized in America’s prolonged economic mediocrity.
---
Another manager familiar with the sound of cavernous cracks appearing in important structures is Arsene Wenger, who has responded to links with the Barcelona jobs by claiming he is "a football priest".
---
Mourinho then added: "Do you know what your tackling looks like? No? I'll show you."
And then, Ozil writes, Mourinho tiptoed in front of Ozil with his hands close to his side with pursed lips and proceeded to hop all over the changing room.
---
No matter how determined you are, it's hard not to be influenced by the people around you. It's not so much that you do whatever a city expects of you, but that you get discouraged when no one around you cares about the same things you do.
---
Ideas are one step upstream from economic power, so it's conceivable that intellectual centers like Cambridge will one day have an edge over Silicon Valley like the one the Valley has over New York.
---
About twenty years ago people noticed computers and TV were on a collision course and started to speculate about what they'd produce when they converged. We now know the answer: computers.
---
About writing software, Cuban said: "It's just math, right?" Humans will no longer be needed.
---
People who for some reason find it impossible to think about themselves, and so really be themselves, try to make up for not thinking with doing.
---
The same league that thinks taunting is worthy of a 15-yard penalty saw its employees expressing themselves during the anthem and decided that was their right.
"Encouraged but not required to stand," the NFL said.
"Shall stand respectfully," U.S. Soccer now says.
Because nothing says respect like telling adult Americans exactly how they must behave during a song about freedom.
This is the same organization that failed to sanction either Tim Howard or Abby Wambach when both made not-so-thinly veiled arguments against the inclusion of foreign-born players on national teams.
---
Schelin wears a message from politician Gudrun Schyman, founder of the Feminist Initiative party, which says: "Never look down on someone unless you're helping her up."
---
"Esporte Clube was not responsible for the release and freedom of the athlete Bruno," da Costa said, adding that the club was "giving work to those who intend to recover."
Bruno "deserves a new opportunity as a professional," the team said in a separate post. "The club has no relation with Bruno's personal actions, nor with his past, having hired only the professional."
---
The cuts came as growing numbers of viewers unsubscribed from the cable channel, even as it's paying for costly long-term TV deals with pro sports leagues.
At the time of the 2015 cuts, it was reported that ESPN was told by its parent company, Disney, to "trim $100 million from the 2016 budget and $250 million in 2017."
---
Howard Aiken said "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."
---
If you need a loan for a car, YOU DEFINITELY CANNOT AFFORD THAT CAR...
---
When I read an article about an Olympic athlete who can swim further and faster than I can even run, I don’t immediately find his blog and write a complaint that he is training too hard and failed to take into account time for commuting, chronic illnesses, or TV watching in his lifestyle.
No, when I hear about someone who is doing something better than me...I secretly try to learn from his success.
---
Adults lie constantly to kids. I'm not saying we should stop, but I think we should at least examine which lies we tell and why.
---
“I love Suarez’s over-the-top theatrics, probably cause it reminds me of his most inspired moment: when he pretended to clutch his tooth in pain after he bit Chiellini,” says Phil Podolsky.
---
If it’s not cash flowing at 100% financing, then you’re essentially FORCING cash flow into the deal by paying more for financing.
---
Did you ever notice how you never see a strong international trend of parents spending more time with their kids, or people canceling their TV service and reading more, or local parks and natural areas becoming increasingly flooded with parents playing with their children? Hmm.. why is this? Is it because we’ve learned that these activities are not good for our kids so we have wised up and replaced them with organized and expensive activities? Or is it because nobody is making money off of these alternative ways and nobody gets to look rich doing them, and thus the Marketing and Social Competition Engine is not tricking us into doing them?
---
Several school districts across the country are closing to allow staff and teachers the chance to participate. While some people in those communities applauded district leadership for the show of solidarity, others criticized them for leaving working families scrambling to find childcare.
----
Most explicitly benevolent projects don't hold themselves sufficiently accountable. They act as if having good intentions were enough to guarantee good effects.
---
Outrage is important, but outreach is what will create change.
---
There's never a point where the adults sit you down and explain all the lies they told you. They've forgotten most of them. So if you're going to clear these lies out of your head, you're going to have to do it yourself.
Few do.
---
“If you go into a high school and ask the classroom, ‘Are cigarettes harmful? Is alcohol harmful?’ every kid raises their hands,” Gilman says. “But if I ask, ‘Is marijuana harmful?’ not a hand goes up.”
---
You don't know what the ideas are until you get them down to the fewest words.
---
Long but mistaken arguments are actually quite rare. There is a strong correlation between comment quality and length; if you wanted to compare the quality of comments on community sites, average length would be a good predictor.
---
When you hear people talking about a successful angel investor, they're not saying "He got a 4x liquidation preference." They're saying "He invested in Google."
---
The problem is a hard one to solve because most people still need the Internet for some things. If you drink too much, you can solve that problem by stopping entirely. But you can't solve the problem of overeating by stopping eating.
---
Some farmers I’ve spoken with already expect that peach tree damage occurred last weekend, and this weekend will not help. It’s part of the peril of an early spring stretch and why temperatures in the 60s and 70s, while good in the moment, are not welcome so early in the year.
---
Massachusetts is the best state in America, according to a new report published Tuesday.
---
Back in Engineering school, they used to teach us that every piece of real-world information comes along with an unspoken “Error Range”.
If you use the most pessimistic number for all possible decisions, you’ll end up with a bridge that is incredibly strong. On the other hand, if you design the bridge to withstand exactly the expected amount of stress, it will collapse as soon as something unexpected happens to it. Somewhere in between is a happy medium where your bridge is statistically very safe, yet not nearly as expensive as a worst-of-all-cases design.
---
Suddenly a culture that had been more or less united was divided into haves and have-nots. I didn't realize how united the culture had been till I saw it divided.
---
But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.
When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.
---
If I went to work and saw a friend with cute shoes, I’d start thinking that maybe I deserved some cute shoes too. But, instead of just going online to find a deal on cute shoes and clicking “buy”, I would wait. I would say: “If I still want this in two weeks, I will get it.”
But sure enough, I found that the two weeks would pass without me even thinking about the shoes.
---
The immediate cause of death in a startup is always running out of money. So the cheaper your company is to operate, the harder it is to kill.
---
Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general of the United States, has said many times in recent years that the most prevalent health issue in the country is not cancer or heart disease or obesity. It is isolation.
---
A majority of Americans live in suburbs, a type of low-density settlement designed around universal personal automobile use. Commentators such as James Howard Kunstler argue that because over 90% of transportation in the U.S. relies on oil, the suburbs' reliance on the automobile is an unsustainable living arrangement. Peak oil would leave many Americans unable to afford petroleum based fuel for their cars, and force them to use bicycles or electric vehicles. Additional options include telecommuting, moving to rural areas, or moving to higher density areas, where walking and public transportation are more viable options. In the latter two cases, suburbs may become the "slums of the future".
---
Here it is: I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.
When I first laid out these principles explicitly, I noticed something striking: this is practically a recipe for generating a contemptuous initial reaction. Though simple solutions are better, they don't seem as impressive as complex ones. Overlooked problems are by definition problems that most people think don't matter. Delivering solutions in an informal way means that instead of judging something by the way it's presented, people have to actually understand it, which is more work. And starting with a crude version 1 means your initial effort is always small and incomplete.
---
Something bothered him. As he said later, “Hyperthyroidism is a classic cause of an irregular heart rhythm, but hyperthyroidism is an infrequent cause of an irregular heart rhythm.” Hearing that the young woman had a history of excess thyroid hormone production, the emergency room medical staff had leaped, with seeming reason, to the assumption that her overactive thyroid had caused the dangerous beating of her heart. They hadn’t bothered to consider statistically far more likely causes of an irregular heartbeat.
---
You'd think it would be such a great thing never to be wrong that everyone would do this. It doesn't seem like that much extra work to pay as much attention to the error on an idea as to the idea itself. And yet practically no one does.
---
Trading a marginal tax rate for an average tax rate makes sense no matter what you think tax rates or your personal income will be in the future.
---
Really, I’m just a guy sitting on the couch typing things into a computer. But because of YOU, it is a whole world of fun. So thanks very much to all.
My collected quotes from March.
Tim
******************
To start with, the Second Law implies that misfortune may be no one’s fault. The biggest breakthrough of the scientific revolution was to nullify the intuition that the universe is saturated with purpose: that everything happens for a reason.
---
Professors and bosses usually feel some sense of responsibility toward you; if you make a valiant effort and fail, they'll cut you a break. Markets are less forgiving. Customers don't care how hard you worked, only whether you solved their problems.
---
An organization that wins by exercising power starts to lose the ability to win by doing better work.
---
If you want to encourage startups in a particular city, you have to fund startups that won't leave. There are two ways to do that: have rules preventing them from leaving, or fund them at the point in their life when they naturally take root. The first approach is a mistake, because it becomes a filter for selecting bad startups.
---
---
---
Another manager familiar with the sound of cavernous cracks appearing in important structures is Arsene Wenger, who has responded to links with the Barcelona jobs by claiming he is "a football priest".
---
Mourinho then added: "Do you know what your tackling looks like? No? I'll show you."
And then, Ozil writes, Mourinho tiptoed in front of Ozil with his hands close to his side with pursed lips and proceeded to hop all over the changing room.
---
No matter how determined you are, it's hard not to be influenced by the people around you. It's not so much that you do whatever a city expects of you, but that you get discouraged when no one around you cares about the same things you do.
---
Ideas are one step upstream from economic power, so it's conceivable that intellectual centers like Cambridge will one day have an edge over Silicon Valley like the one the Valley has over New York.
---
About twenty years ago people noticed computers and TV were on a collision course and started to speculate about what they'd produce when they converged. We now know the answer: computers.
---
About writing software, Cuban said: "It's just math, right?" Humans will no longer be needed.
---
People who for some reason find it impossible to think about themselves, and so really be themselves, try to make up for not thinking with doing.
---
"Encouraged but not required to stand," the NFL said.
"Shall stand respectfully," U.S. Soccer now says.
Because nothing says respect like telling adult Americans exactly how they must behave during a song about freedom.
This is the same organization that failed to sanction either Tim Howard or Abby Wambach when both made not-so-thinly veiled arguments against the inclusion of foreign-born players on national teams.
---
Schelin wears a message from politician Gudrun Schyman, founder of the Feminist Initiative party, which says: "Never look down on someone unless you're helping her up."
---
Bruno "deserves a new opportunity as a professional," the team said in a separate post. "The club has no relation with Bruno's personal actions, nor with his past, having hired only the professional."
---
The cuts came as growing numbers of viewers unsubscribed from the cable channel, even as it's paying for costly long-term TV deals with pro sports leagues.
At the time of the 2015 cuts, it was reported that ESPN was told by its parent company, Disney, to "trim $100 million from the 2016 budget and $250 million in 2017."
---
Howard Aiken said "Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats."
---
If you need a loan for a car, YOU DEFINITELY CANNOT AFFORD THAT CAR...
---
When I read an article about an Olympic athlete who can swim further and faster than I can even run, I don’t immediately find his blog and write a complaint that he is training too hard and failed to take into account time for commuting, chronic illnesses, or TV watching in his lifestyle.
No, when I hear about someone who is doing something better than me...I secretly try to learn from his success.
---
Adults lie constantly to kids. I'm not saying we should stop, but I think we should at least examine which lies we tell and why.
---
“I love Suarez’s over-the-top theatrics, probably cause it reminds me of his most inspired moment: when he pretended to clutch his tooth in pain after he bit Chiellini,” says Phil Podolsky.
---
If it’s not cash flowing at 100% financing, then you’re essentially FORCING cash flow into the deal by paying more for financing.
---
Did you ever notice how you never see a strong international trend of parents spending more time with their kids, or people canceling their TV service and reading more, or local parks and natural areas becoming increasingly flooded with parents playing with their children? Hmm.. why is this? Is it because we’ve learned that these activities are not good for our kids so we have wised up and replaced them with organized and expensive activities? Or is it because nobody is making money off of these alternative ways and nobody gets to look rich doing them, and thus the Marketing and Social Competition Engine is not tricking us into doing them?
---
Several school districts across the country are closing to allow staff and teachers the chance to participate. While some people in those communities applauded district leadership for the show of solidarity, others criticized them for leaving working families scrambling to find childcare.
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Most explicitly benevolent projects don't hold themselves sufficiently accountable. They act as if having good intentions were enough to guarantee good effects.
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Outrage is important, but outreach is what will create change.
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There's never a point where the adults sit you down and explain all the lies they told you. They've forgotten most of them. So if you're going to clear these lies out of your head, you're going to have to do it yourself.
Few do.
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“If you go into a high school and ask the classroom, ‘Are cigarettes harmful? Is alcohol harmful?’ every kid raises their hands,” Gilman says. “But if I ask, ‘Is marijuana harmful?’ not a hand goes up.”
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You don't know what the ideas are until you get them down to the fewest words.
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Long but mistaken arguments are actually quite rare. There is a strong correlation between comment quality and length; if you wanted to compare the quality of comments on community sites, average length would be a good predictor.
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When you hear people talking about a successful angel investor, they're not saying "He got a 4x liquidation preference." They're saying "He invested in Google."
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Some farmers I’ve spoken with already expect that peach tree damage occurred last weekend, and this weekend will not help. It’s part of the peril of an early spring stretch and why temperatures in the 60s and 70s, while good in the moment, are not welcome so early in the year.
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Massachusetts is the best state in America, according to a new report published Tuesday.
---
Back in Engineering school, they used to teach us that every piece of real-world information comes along with an unspoken “Error Range”.
If you use the most pessimistic number for all possible decisions, you’ll end up with a bridge that is incredibly strong. On the other hand, if you design the bridge to withstand exactly the expected amount of stress, it will collapse as soon as something unexpected happens to it. Somewhere in between is a happy medium where your bridge is statistically very safe, yet not nearly as expensive as a worst-of-all-cases design.
Suddenly a culture that had been more or less united was divided into haves and have-nots. I didn't realize how united the culture had been till I saw it divided.
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But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.
When you're operating on the maker's schedule, meetings are a disaster. A single meeting can blow a whole afternoon, by breaking it into two pieces each too small to do anything hard in.
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If I went to work and saw a friend with cute shoes, I’d start thinking that maybe I deserved some cute shoes too. But, instead of just going online to find a deal on cute shoes and clicking “buy”, I would wait. I would say: “If I still want this in two weeks, I will get it.”
But sure enough, I found that the two weeks would pass without me even thinking about the shoes.
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The immediate cause of death in a startup is always running out of money. So the cheaper your company is to operate, the harder it is to kill.
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Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general of the United States, has said many times in recent years that the most prevalent health issue in the country is not cancer or heart disease or obesity. It is isolation.
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A majority of Americans live in suburbs, a type of low-density settlement designed around universal personal automobile use. Commentators such as James Howard Kunstler argue that because over 90% of transportation in the U.S. relies on oil, the suburbs' reliance on the automobile is an unsustainable living arrangement. Peak oil would leave many Americans unable to afford petroleum based fuel for their cars, and force them to use bicycles or electric vehicles. Additional options include telecommuting, moving to rural areas, or moving to higher density areas, where walking and public transportation are more viable options. In the latter two cases, suburbs may become the "slums of the future".
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Here it is: I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.
When I first laid out these principles explicitly, I noticed something striking: this is practically a recipe for generating a contemptuous initial reaction. Though simple solutions are better, they don't seem as impressive as complex ones. Overlooked problems are by definition problems that most people think don't matter. Delivering solutions in an informal way means that instead of judging something by the way it's presented, people have to actually understand it, which is more work. And starting with a crude version 1 means your initial effort is always small and incomplete.
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Something bothered him. As he said later, “Hyperthyroidism is a classic cause of an irregular heart rhythm, but hyperthyroidism is an infrequent cause of an irregular heart rhythm.” Hearing that the young woman had a history of excess thyroid hormone production, the emergency room medical staff had leaped, with seeming reason, to the assumption that her overactive thyroid had caused the dangerous beating of her heart. They hadn’t bothered to consider statistically far more likely causes of an irregular heartbeat.
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You'd think it would be such a great thing never to be wrong that everyone would do this. It doesn't seem like that much extra work to pay as much attention to the error on an idea as to the idea itself. And yet practically no one does.
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Trading a marginal tax rate for an average tax rate makes sense no matter what you think tax rates or your personal income will be in the future.
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Really, I’m just a guy sitting on the couch typing things into a computer. But because of YOU, it is a whole world of fun. So thanks very much to all.
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
why did the blogger cross the road?
One night back in the middle of the winter, I walked down the right hand side of Newbury Street on my way to meet up with friends. My plan was to walk a few blocks before turning left onto Fairfield Street.
On such trips, my goal is to minimize the amount of time I wait at an intersection. I'm also pretty much against doing anything unnecessary (like retracing my steps) to 'keep moving'. As an added bonus on this particular night, it was raining lightly- thus, each second I shaved off my walking time would keep me just a little bit drier.
The path was simple- walk straight for a few blocks before turning left- so my plan was not complex. I would walk for as long as possible along the right hand side until I was forced by a traffic light to stop. Since all the streets in this part of the city are one-way, it made sense to cross at this point. Once on the left hand side, I would resume walking toward Fairfield Street.
I reached the first intersection, at Arlington Street, and glanced both ways before crossing. I noticed a person on the other side of Newbury Street doing the same thing before crossing. We reached the other side at almost the exact same time.
My timing at the next stoplight was almost perfect. The walk signal came on just as I reached the curb. I glanced right, then left, before stepping into Boylston Street. Again, I saw the same person from earlier on the other side of Newbury. We entered our crosswalks simultaneously and continued on, mirror images moving in the same direction on the brightly lit street.
The next street, Clarendon, was approaching. Once more, the walk signal allowed me to continue without pause. As I crossed, I again looked both ways. No surprise, I was still in perfect sync with the pedestrian across the street.
This time, I took a closer look. I realized it was a woman walking a dog on a long leash. I had somehow missed the pet on my two prior glances. We both finished crossing on our own sides of the street and continued on.
It was probably best that we were on opposite sides, I thought. Nobody I knew woke up thinking, "You know what would be a good idea? Walking in lockstep alongside a complete stranger and her dog down several city blocks!" Plus, with the rain coming down, that dog was liable to shake itself dry at any point. Maybe my jeans would get soaked. And the peeing! Who trusts dogs, especially those on a long leash?
My hand was forced, though, when I came to the red light at Dartmouth Street. The walk signal was a firm orange hand- as if a crossing guard had just polished off an industrial sized bag of Cheetos- and I was long past the age to start a dangerous new hobby like jaywalking. I acknowledge my reluctance to appear like a stalker, thought about all the socially unacceptable activities I'd seen a dog initiate on city streets, and weighed those against my trivial goal of minimizing overall walking time.
Efficiency trumped unease. I crossed Newbury Street and waited, finally on the same side of the street as the woman walking the dog. I wondered if I should try to make a quick start across the intersection, just to build some distance between us on the block leading up to Exeter Street.
However, when the light changed, the woman shot out in front of me. Perhaps I was too busy thinking to react immediately to the signal change. But as we walked down Newbury Street, the distance between us lengthened. The woman's pace was much faster than mine- perhaps not twice as fast but at least one and a half times my speed.
Just as I finished the thought, the woman stopped. Before I knew it, I had passed her and the dog, who was now sniffing the base of a mailbox. Just as quickly as I had passed the pair, though, they had once more passed me and retaken the lead of our procession.
And so it continued down Newbury, the lead being exchanged every few feet as the dog raced ahead, stopped, did something unproductive, and raced ahead again. Once more, we arrived at the next intersection at the same time.
But at no point on the block did we ever walk at the same pace.
So, what's the point of this story?Beats me. It's about as irrelevant as city life gets. I wrote it down with an intent, though, so I can speculate on what I might have been thinking.
Maybe I wanted to highlight how easily our tendency to recognize patterns leads to false conclusions. We are all great at recognizing patterns, especially on average, but correlation and causation are two separate concepts. Intuition suggests what precedes an event contributes to its cause. But nighttime darkness does not cause sunrise.
It could be my comment on the flawed nature of storytelling. There is self-deception inherent to any story people tell about themselves. Perhaps the stories people tell to themselves are the most deceiving of all. Storytelling is all in good fun, usually, but when I really want to know what's going on in my life, I make honest observations and resist the temptation to seek narratives.
Perhaps this is a tale about measurement. There is an appropriate frequency at which to track anything. Infrequent measurements miss the details. Measure too often and you lose the forest for the trees. Measurements that miss the point tend to get manipulated later to fit a narrative arc that is neater than the true story.
Or maybe there is a lesson here in the illusion of control. Is it the lender or the debtor who is more powerful? Do we own the pet or does the pet own us? It's possible that the answer changes, depending on the interest involved.
I suppose it could be any or none of those things. A combination of the above is possible. It really comes down to how each individual sees it. Perspective counts, so much so that sometimes the same event, viewed from opposite sides of the street, come off as unquestionably different.
The obstacles I faced in 2016 demanded a lot of work. In some ways, it was the most work I've ever faced in my life. As I met and overcame some of these challenges, I learned the value of looking at problems from new perspectives.
The process manifested a little differently each time. At some crossroads, I was beckoned across by a signal or sign. At others, I checked for traffic before jaywalking. And longtime readers know that I preferred to bike, when possible, mostly through green lights and never at anyone else's pace.
But no matter the method, the importance of finding a new vantage point remained constant. The results- better understanding of my assumptions, exposure to new environments, taking more honest assessments of situations- have exposed me to truths about my best self and shown me ways to involve that self more consistently in the things I do each day.
It gets at a simple question that everyone's heard- what do you want to be when you grow up? The answer, for me, has always been elusive. I'm coming around now to the possibility that maybe the question is the wrong one for me.
The better question might be- how do I want to be when I grow up? That's an easier question to answer. It requires doing the hard work needed to understand what is truly going on rather than relying on lazy assumptions. It means making no comparisons until I've done the work necessary to do so. It means recognizing that everyone gets to the same destination at their own pace, whether they are on the left or the right. If I do how things every day, the what will take care of itself.
It's an ongoing process. It's rarely pretty, far from complete, and sometimes makes me wonder if others look at me like a weirdo. But in reflecting back on the year, I'm happy with the approach I took. I'm looking forward to seeking new vantage points as I continue to rise to the many challenges that I will encounter during the next stage of my life.
On such trips, my goal is to minimize the amount of time I wait at an intersection. I'm also pretty much against doing anything unnecessary (like retracing my steps) to 'keep moving'. As an added bonus on this particular night, it was raining lightly- thus, each second I shaved off my walking time would keep me just a little bit drier.
The path was simple- walk straight for a few blocks before turning left- so my plan was not complex. I would walk for as long as possible along the right hand side until I was forced by a traffic light to stop. Since all the streets in this part of the city are one-way, it made sense to cross at this point. Once on the left hand side, I would resume walking toward Fairfield Street.
I reached the first intersection, at Arlington Street, and glanced both ways before crossing. I noticed a person on the other side of Newbury Street doing the same thing before crossing. We reached the other side at almost the exact same time.
My timing at the next stoplight was almost perfect. The walk signal came on just as I reached the curb. I glanced right, then left, before stepping into Boylston Street. Again, I saw the same person from earlier on the other side of Newbury. We entered our crosswalks simultaneously and continued on, mirror images moving in the same direction on the brightly lit street.
The next street, Clarendon, was approaching. Once more, the walk signal allowed me to continue without pause. As I crossed, I again looked both ways. No surprise, I was still in perfect sync with the pedestrian across the street.
This time, I took a closer look. I realized it was a woman walking a dog on a long leash. I had somehow missed the pet on my two prior glances. We both finished crossing on our own sides of the street and continued on.
It was probably best that we were on opposite sides, I thought. Nobody I knew woke up thinking, "You know what would be a good idea? Walking in lockstep alongside a complete stranger and her dog down several city blocks!" Plus, with the rain coming down, that dog was liable to shake itself dry at any point. Maybe my jeans would get soaked. And the peeing! Who trusts dogs, especially those on a long leash?
My hand was forced, though, when I came to the red light at Dartmouth Street. The walk signal was a firm orange hand- as if a crossing guard had just polished off an industrial sized bag of Cheetos- and I was long past the age to start a dangerous new hobby like jaywalking. I acknowledge my reluctance to appear like a stalker, thought about all the socially unacceptable activities I'd seen a dog initiate on city streets, and weighed those against my trivial goal of minimizing overall walking time.
Efficiency trumped unease. I crossed Newbury Street and waited, finally on the same side of the street as the woman walking the dog. I wondered if I should try to make a quick start across the intersection, just to build some distance between us on the block leading up to Exeter Street.
However, when the light changed, the woman shot out in front of me. Perhaps I was too busy thinking to react immediately to the signal change. But as we walked down Newbury Street, the distance between us lengthened. The woman's pace was much faster than mine- perhaps not twice as fast but at least one and a half times my speed.
Just as I finished the thought, the woman stopped. Before I knew it, I had passed her and the dog, who was now sniffing the base of a mailbox. Just as quickly as I had passed the pair, though, they had once more passed me and retaken the lead of our procession.
And so it continued down Newbury, the lead being exchanged every few feet as the dog raced ahead, stopped, did something unproductive, and raced ahead again. Once more, we arrived at the next intersection at the same time.
But at no point on the block did we ever walk at the same pace.
So, what's the point of this story?
Maybe I wanted to highlight how easily our tendency to recognize patterns leads to false conclusions. We are all great at recognizing patterns, especially on average, but correlation and causation are two separate concepts. Intuition suggests what precedes an event contributes to its cause. But nighttime darkness does not cause sunrise.
It could be my comment on the flawed nature of storytelling. There is self-deception inherent to any story people tell about themselves. Perhaps the stories people tell to themselves are the most deceiving of all. Storytelling is all in good fun, usually, but when I really want to know what's going on in my life, I make honest observations and resist the temptation to seek narratives.
Perhaps this is a tale about measurement. There is an appropriate frequency at which to track anything. Infrequent measurements miss the details. Measure too often and you lose the forest for the trees. Measurements that miss the point tend to get manipulated later to fit a narrative arc that is neater than the true story.
Or maybe there is a lesson here in the illusion of control. Is it the lender or the debtor who is more powerful? Do we own the pet or does the pet own us? It's possible that the answer changes, depending on the interest involved.
I suppose it could be any or none of those things. A combination of the above is possible. It really comes down to how each individual sees it. Perspective counts, so much so that sometimes the same event, viewed from opposite sides of the street, come off as unquestionably different.
The obstacles I faced in 2016 demanded a lot of work. In some ways, it was the most work I've ever faced in my life. As I met and overcame some of these challenges, I learned the value of looking at problems from new perspectives.
The process manifested a little differently each time. At some crossroads, I was beckoned across by a signal or sign. At others, I checked for traffic before jaywalking. And longtime readers know that I preferred to bike, when possible, mostly through green lights and never at anyone else's pace.
But no matter the method, the importance of finding a new vantage point remained constant. The results- better understanding of my assumptions, exposure to new environments, taking more honest assessments of situations- have exposed me to truths about my best self and shown me ways to involve that self more consistently in the things I do each day.
It gets at a simple question that everyone's heard- what do you want to be when you grow up? The answer, for me, has always been elusive. I'm coming around now to the possibility that maybe the question is the wrong one for me.
The better question might be- how do I want to be when I grow up? That's an easier question to answer. It requires doing the hard work needed to understand what is truly going on rather than relying on lazy assumptions. It means making no comparisons until I've done the work necessary to do so. It means recognizing that everyone gets to the same destination at their own pace, whether they are on the left or the right. If I do how things every day, the what will take care of itself.
It's an ongoing process. It's rarely pretty, far from complete, and sometimes makes me wonder if others look at me like a weirdo. But in reflecting back on the year, I'm happy with the approach I took. I'm looking forward to seeking new vantage points as I continue to rise to the many challenges that I will encounter during the next stage of my life.
Sunday, April 9, 2017
life changing books, pre-2011: traffic
Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt (Fall 2010)
This might be, for all I know, the first book I read after I started working. I distinctly recall reading a passage from this book about how traffic jams started, looking out the window of my bus, and realizing we were in a traffic jam. (1)
I think I drew one life-changing idea from this book. It grew out of the examples about how surroundings influence decision making. In the context of driving, these included how the spacing of stripes on a road, the distance between the curb and the median, and the decision to include a dividing line in a suburban side street all impacted driver speed.
Understanding how context mattered in the driving environment helped me see things a little differently in terms of problem solving. I became more willing at work, for example, to change the medium of my delivery instead of focusing on word choice.
This was a big transition for me because our education system very rarely asked for the same assignment to be completed more than one time. In the rare event that such an opportunity presented itself, it usually came in the form of a revision- writing a paper again, for example, or taking a new version of an exam.
In these cases, the 'do-over' always involved the same assignment using the same medium as the original. I was never asked as a student to redo a paper by making a video about the same topic or retake an exam verbally that I originally flunked on paper.
Therefore, one real-world skill that my education failed to cultivate was the ability to influence others by adjusting the environment in which they considered my ideas. The manner in which this book presented how environment influenced behavior made me start considering the possibility that, for example, following up a phone call with an email might be more effective than a second phone call.
It also laid the groundwork for a really valuable idea I encountered a few years later- people generally recall the way you make them feel but rarely remember the exact words you used. This, again, ran counter to how I was educated (where the emphasis is on word choice more than on inciting emotion) but reading this book and understanding the idea that context influences behavior prepared me to accept the idea and adjust my approach accordingly. (2)
I don't seek out books like this all that much anymore. And I think the introductory nature of what I got from that one concept it is reflected in how disappointed I was when I recently re-read this book. (3)
In other words, since the idea I drew from this book got me started down a particular path, going back to it in at a later date did not have much value- it would be like an NBA player going back to elementary school and shooting two-handed free throws. However, that does not detract from the initial impact reading this book had on me and on my thought process back in late 2010.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. What next?
I returned to the book- what else could I do? It was a traffic jam, after all. I read an awful lot during traffic jams that year when, if memory serves me correctly, construction was pretty regular on I-93.
In those first three and a half years at that job, I read about sixty to seventy books per year. The commute, each way, was about one hour. I walked for about twenty minutes each way. So, during that time, I read about one hour and twenty minutes per day, five days a week.
I think the math adds up. Seventy books per year is just over one book per week. And one book should take a little less than six to seven hours.
2. More complaints about education.
To extend the 'real world deficiency' idea from the prior example, it could be that, because my education involved having work graded by one person, my ability to craft a message to a known target improved at the cost of not developing my ability to craft one message that appealed to multiple targets simultaneously.
3. Books like what?
Meaning books that tend to use study results, intensive research, and real-world models to make observations and predictions about specific topics. A lot of books like this are better fits between magazine rather than hard-bound covers.
This might be, for all I know, the first book I read after I started working. I distinctly recall reading a passage from this book about how traffic jams started, looking out the window of my bus, and realizing we were in a traffic jam. (1)
I think I drew one life-changing idea from this book. It grew out of the examples about how surroundings influence decision making. In the context of driving, these included how the spacing of stripes on a road, the distance between the curb and the median, and the decision to include a dividing line in a suburban side street all impacted driver speed.
Understanding how context mattered in the driving environment helped me see things a little differently in terms of problem solving. I became more willing at work, for example, to change the medium of my delivery instead of focusing on word choice.
This was a big transition for me because our education system very rarely asked for the same assignment to be completed more than one time. In the rare event that such an opportunity presented itself, it usually came in the form of a revision- writing a paper again, for example, or taking a new version of an exam.
In these cases, the 'do-over' always involved the same assignment using the same medium as the original. I was never asked as a student to redo a paper by making a video about the same topic or retake an exam verbally that I originally flunked on paper.
Therefore, one real-world skill that my education failed to cultivate was the ability to influence others by adjusting the environment in which they considered my ideas. The manner in which this book presented how environment influenced behavior made me start considering the possibility that, for example, following up a phone call with an email might be more effective than a second phone call.
It also laid the groundwork for a really valuable idea I encountered a few years later- people generally recall the way you make them feel but rarely remember the exact words you used. This, again, ran counter to how I was educated (where the emphasis is on word choice more than on inciting emotion) but reading this book and understanding the idea that context influences behavior prepared me to accept the idea and adjust my approach accordingly. (2)
I don't seek out books like this all that much anymore. And I think the introductory nature of what I got from that one concept it is reflected in how disappointed I was when I recently re-read this book. (3)
In other words, since the idea I drew from this book got me started down a particular path, going back to it in at a later date did not have much value- it would be like an NBA player going back to elementary school and shooting two-handed free throws. However, that does not detract from the initial impact reading this book had on me and on my thought process back in late 2010.
Footnotes / imagined complaints
1. What next?
I returned to the book- what else could I do? It was a traffic jam, after all. I read an awful lot during traffic jams that year when, if memory serves me correctly, construction was pretty regular on I-93.
In those first three and a half years at that job, I read about sixty to seventy books per year. The commute, each way, was about one hour. I walked for about twenty minutes each way. So, during that time, I read about one hour and twenty minutes per day, five days a week.
I think the math adds up. Seventy books per year is just over one book per week. And one book should take a little less than six to seven hours.
2. More complaints about education.
To extend the 'real world deficiency' idea from the prior example, it could be that, because my education involved having work graded by one person, my ability to craft a message to a known target improved at the cost of not developing my ability to craft one message that appealed to multiple targets simultaneously.
3. Books like what?
Meaning books that tend to use study results, intensive research, and real-world models to make observations and predictions about specific topics. A lot of books like this are better fits between magazine rather than hard-bound covers.
Friday, April 7, 2017
reading review- january 2017 clearout, part 1
Hi all,
A few of my January 2017 reads that I did not extend into full-length reading reviews.
Tim
Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua
A collection of Kashua's articles for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, all originally published between 2006 and 2014. Kashua's column explored his experience living as a Palestinian minority in his country.
One up: My understanding of daily living in Israel is approximately zero. Despite that background, I found the stories here easy to relate to and my reactions to a lot of his writing were much rawer than I anticipated when I first opened Native. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book.
One down: There is certainly a narrative arc to these stories because most are written from a shared basic premise- relate the story of an Arab-Israeli with humor, insight, and truth. But it remains a collection of articles originally published in a magazine and thus the ability of the author to open up at length about a particular angle or aspect of a given situation is limited.
Just saying: I picked this out at the library one night because I was browsing for a possible light read- the type of book I would read before going to bed. It fit the bill because of the collection format and the author's sense of humor. But I would not go so far to classify it as a 'light read' given the weight of the content.
Women In Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
This not quite picture book profiles fifty famous women in various scientific fields.
One up: It is chock full of interesting facts and anecdotes (none of which I will recall for this post). Someone interested in the history of science or seeking to inspire a future science major will probably feel very good about picking this book out.
One down: There is not much science here, I suppose, like how most sports movies are a bit light on pure sports scenes. But I doubt anyone is picking this book out for the science.
Just saying: I'm in a bit of a 'Goldilocks' spot with these science books. The shorter stuff (like this book) tends to settle for acknowledging how scientists succeeded while the more in-depth works often either get caught up in the excitement of the 'nuts-and-bolts' detail involved in the actual science or broaden the scope to include the news-bulletin themes that the author cherry picks to make the topic 'relevant'.
What would be 'just right'? I think a work that really explored how a scientist scoped out a project or built their research career would be an interesting starting point. When I consider the strange popularity of books from related fields (like medicine) I see examples of this type of focus.
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The third Virginia Woolf novel I've read of late, To The Lighthouse explores family dynamics, the nature of consciousness, and themes of love and loss with Woolf's trademark writing style. The lighthouse is ever-present throughout- sometimes bringing light, at other times casting shadow, sometimes the topic of conversation, at others completely ignored.
One up: I think Woolf fans will love this book. There was nothing unexpected for me after having finished two of her other works in the space of the past few months. Some of the imagery will force the reader to pause and a few of the ideas introduced will stick in the mind long after the bookmark has been replaced.
One down: This book took a little while, for me, to get going. Unlike her other recent work I've read, it was not quite clear what Woolf was doing here until I got some part into it.
Just saying: I did not get sucked into this one quite as much as The Waves or Mrs. Dalloway. It's never fair to compare a book to a Virginia Woolf novel (even including, I suppose, other Virginia Woolf novels) but I think my hunch that reading three is enough for now is confirmed by how I responded to this work.
A few of my January 2017 reads that I did not extend into full-length reading reviews.
Tim
Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life by Sayed Kashua
A collection of Kashua's articles for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, all originally published between 2006 and 2014. Kashua's column explored his experience living as a Palestinian minority in his country.
One up: My understanding of daily living in Israel is approximately zero. Despite that background, I found the stories here easy to relate to and my reactions to a lot of his writing were much rawer than I anticipated when I first opened Native. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this book.
One down: There is certainly a narrative arc to these stories because most are written from a shared basic premise- relate the story of an Arab-Israeli with humor, insight, and truth. But it remains a collection of articles originally published in a magazine and thus the ability of the author to open up at length about a particular angle or aspect of a given situation is limited.
Just saying: I picked this out at the library one night because I was browsing for a possible light read- the type of book I would read before going to bed. It fit the bill because of the collection format and the author's sense of humor. But I would not go so far to classify it as a 'light read' given the weight of the content.
Women In Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
This not quite picture book profiles fifty famous women in various scientific fields.
One up: It is chock full of interesting facts and anecdotes (none of which I will recall for this post). Someone interested in the history of science or seeking to inspire a future science major will probably feel very good about picking this book out.
One down: There is not much science here, I suppose, like how most sports movies are a bit light on pure sports scenes. But I doubt anyone is picking this book out for the science.
Just saying: I'm in a bit of a 'Goldilocks' spot with these science books. The shorter stuff (like this book) tends to settle for acknowledging how scientists succeeded while the more in-depth works often either get caught up in the excitement of the 'nuts-and-bolts' detail involved in the actual science or broaden the scope to include the news-bulletin themes that the author cherry picks to make the topic 'relevant'.
What would be 'just right'? I think a work that really explored how a scientist scoped out a project or built their research career would be an interesting starting point. When I consider the strange popularity of books from related fields (like medicine) I see examples of this type of focus.
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
The third Virginia Woolf novel I've read of late, To The Lighthouse explores family dynamics, the nature of consciousness, and themes of love and loss with Woolf's trademark writing style. The lighthouse is ever-present throughout- sometimes bringing light, at other times casting shadow, sometimes the topic of conversation, at others completely ignored.
One up: I think Woolf fans will love this book. There was nothing unexpected for me after having finished two of her other works in the space of the past few months. Some of the imagery will force the reader to pause and a few of the ideas introduced will stick in the mind long after the bookmark has been replaced.
One down: This book took a little while, for me, to get going. Unlike her other recent work I've read, it was not quite clear what Woolf was doing here until I got some part into it.
Just saying: I did not get sucked into this one quite as much as The Waves or Mrs. Dalloway. It's never fair to compare a book to a Virginia Woolf novel (even including, I suppose, other Virginia Woolf novels) but I think my hunch that reading three is enough for now is confirmed by how I responded to this work.
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
eight glasses a day
Hi,
I drink a lot of water every day. I have no idea what the optimal amount is so, like I assume many others do, I use 'eight glasses a day' as a rule of thumb and hope for the best.
On a (sort of) recent episode of More Or Less, Tim Harford explored the idea that eight glasses of water per day represents the optimal amount to drink. In short, the show explained that this benchmark was myth.
A person's optimal water intake is influenced by many things. Height, weight, environment, activity level, and many other factors contribute. With all these factors, the ideal water amount for most people tends to be more or less (!) than eight glasses.
The show dismissed a number of other commonly held beliefs. Some of these are found on this non-exhaustive list from Wikipedia. It's an interesting list for both its variety and its length.
I think there are a couple of common root causes that lead to such beliefs becoming widely held. One cause is the confirmation bias. People who believe that coffee is a diuretic will note that after each cup of coffee, they go use the bathroom. Not expecting the same effect, this same group might fail to note the bathroom trips made after an equivalently sized glass of water.
Another cause is forgetting the base rate. Napoleon is known for being short (and for being a crazy dictator). However, short is a term used relative to others in a similar group. Among French men of the time, Napoleon's height was slightly above average. Some speculate that he appeared short whenever he was accompanied by his Imperial Guard- a group selected for their superior height. But in the context of his own time, Napoleon was hardly short.
I know it is inevitable that I will sometimes believe false information. It is the age of alternative facts, no? It comes naturally to me to believe that when others speak, something relevant is being said.
But to try and fully suppress the instinct to believe what I hear is dangerous, even if I am occasionally led astray. I work best when I am immersed in a cyclical process of forming and testing hypotheses. This requires a willingness to accept new ideas.
That said, I do worry about laziness in testing the validity of what I hear. When information comes in via the news or in a book, I find it perfectly reasonable to assume someone else did the work of fact checking. With such an attitude, I am begging to be led astray.
I like listening to shows like More Or Less thanks to its constant application of the 'BS' filter. The show only looks at the facts. It's a good counter-punch against the relentless tide of suspect statistics out there. And I appreciate that when I do not have time to organize a peer-reviewed study, these fine folks over at the BBC will do some of the work for me.
The most important thing, I think, is the show's common sense approach. Their simple but sound logic suggests to listeners like me that its not so hard to fact-check. Falling victim to the confirmation bias and losing track of the base rate are not uncommon errors among even the sharpest statistical minds. But those are oversights stemming from a lapse in concentration, not a lack of intelligence. Anyone can overcome them so long as they are willing to put in the work.
Click here for a link to the ten-minute long show.
I drink a lot of water every day. I have no idea what the optimal amount is so, like I assume many others do, I use 'eight glasses a day' as a rule of thumb and hope for the best.
On a (sort of) recent episode of More Or Less, Tim Harford explored the idea that eight glasses of water per day represents the optimal amount to drink. In short, the show explained that this benchmark was myth.
A person's optimal water intake is influenced by many things. Height, weight, environment, activity level, and many other factors contribute. With all these factors, the ideal water amount for most people tends to be more or less (!) than eight glasses.
The show dismissed a number of other commonly held beliefs. Some of these are found on this non-exhaustive list from Wikipedia. It's an interesting list for both its variety and its length.
I think there are a couple of common root causes that lead to such beliefs becoming widely held. One cause is the confirmation bias. People who believe that coffee is a diuretic will note that after each cup of coffee, they go use the bathroom. Not expecting the same effect, this same group might fail to note the bathroom trips made after an equivalently sized glass of water.
Another cause is forgetting the base rate. Napoleon is known for being short (and for being a crazy dictator). However, short is a term used relative to others in a similar group. Among French men of the time, Napoleon's height was slightly above average. Some speculate that he appeared short whenever he was accompanied by his Imperial Guard- a group selected for their superior height. But in the context of his own time, Napoleon was hardly short.
I know it is inevitable that I will sometimes believe false information. It is the age of alternative facts, no? It comes naturally to me to believe that when others speak, something relevant is being said.
But to try and fully suppress the instinct to believe what I hear is dangerous, even if I am occasionally led astray. I work best when I am immersed in a cyclical process of forming and testing hypotheses. This requires a willingness to accept new ideas.
That said, I do worry about laziness in testing the validity of what I hear. When information comes in via the news or in a book, I find it perfectly reasonable to assume someone else did the work of fact checking. With such an attitude, I am begging to be led astray.
I like listening to shows like More Or Less thanks to its constant application of the 'BS' filter. The show only looks at the facts. It's a good counter-punch against the relentless tide of suspect statistics out there. And I appreciate that when I do not have time to organize a peer-reviewed study, these fine folks over at the BBC will do some of the work for me.
The most important thing, I think, is the show's common sense approach. Their simple but sound logic suggests to listeners like me that its not so hard to fact-check. Falling victim to the confirmation bias and losing track of the base rate are not uncommon errors among even the sharpest statistical minds. But those are oversights stemming from a lapse in concentration, not a lack of intelligence. Anyone can overcome them so long as they are willing to put in the work.
Click here for a link to the ten-minute long show.
Sunday, April 2, 2017
reading review- the shape of content
The Shape of Content by Ben Shahn (January 2017)
Artist Ben Shahn explores a variety of topics in this book of essays. Despite not necessarily focusing in depth on one topic throughout, I finished this work thinking that finding more books like this would be a terrific development.
Early on, Shahn writes about the ways education limits artistic development. He cites the skills education tends to develop- surveying, categorizing, analyzing, and memorizing. However, these abilities do not cultivate artistic potential.
He points out that most modern education ignores the critical skill of the creator- fusing acquired knowledge with independent thought. A teacher able to show a student different ways to succeed without suppressing the urge to try is invaluable. These instructors are able to cultivate some of the skills an artist needs no matter the limits of the teaching environment.
I liked his insights into self-criticism. An artist balances two personalities during the creative process- the creator and the critic. The inner critic is generally harsher than any outside person. A real life critic does not physically destroy any work.
Yet the inner critic is a ruthless eliminator of drafts, ideas, or sketches. Though a valuable presence, the creator must find ways to challenge the inner critic at important junctures. Otherwise, the artist is at risk of discarding the work that is buried deep within.
His comments about conformity were the most broadly applicable. For Shahn, conformity rarely produced the inspiration needed for art. And yet, the pressure to conform is a normal condition in many organizations or societies. We tend to seek conformity in those around us despite never remembering anyone as 'a great conformist'.
Shahn looks at this situation and considers why conformity is encouraged despite its obvious harm to clear thinking and, as an extension, to creating art. He concludes that the balance of the conservative and the creative is a vital component of successful organizations and healthy societies. If the balance tips too far toward the creative, the correction will enforce conformity upon everyone. But over-correction may mean a temporary halt in the progress of art, growth, and change.
One up: Shahn writes with nuance and balance. He explores how education limits the artist by highlighting the strengths of the educational system. The praise of the non-conformist's accomplishments is framed as a necessary supplement to the contributions of the conformist.
By defining the value inherent at both extremes of opposing approaches, Shahn exemplifies a philosophy that allows different worldviews to coexist by identifying and cultivating the strength of the opposite approach.
One down: Essay collections have their ups and downs. I think it is inherent to the nature of such a work. There is just no way around the fact that a reader will find some portions less interesting than others.
Without a larger narrative structure to contribute to, I can see why some would consider it burdensome to continue reading such essays. I do not think this reality takes anything away from this collection but I suppose the possibility is there for a particular type of reader.
Just saying: For Shahn, the best strategy for any artist is to simply create what one knows. I think his stance on education is swayed by this belief. Most educational programs struggle to nurture the student's ability to form opinions. They opt instead for the cleaner form of instruction seen in fields with defined answers. But without learning to articulate what one believes, the process of creating art is more difficult.
Artist Ben Shahn explores a variety of topics in this book of essays. Despite not necessarily focusing in depth on one topic throughout, I finished this work thinking that finding more books like this would be a terrific development.
Early on, Shahn writes about the ways education limits artistic development. He cites the skills education tends to develop- surveying, categorizing, analyzing, and memorizing. However, these abilities do not cultivate artistic potential.
He points out that most modern education ignores the critical skill of the creator- fusing acquired knowledge with independent thought. A teacher able to show a student different ways to succeed without suppressing the urge to try is invaluable. These instructors are able to cultivate some of the skills an artist needs no matter the limits of the teaching environment.
I liked his insights into self-criticism. An artist balances two personalities during the creative process- the creator and the critic. The inner critic is generally harsher than any outside person. A real life critic does not physically destroy any work.
Yet the inner critic is a ruthless eliminator of drafts, ideas, or sketches. Though a valuable presence, the creator must find ways to challenge the inner critic at important junctures. Otherwise, the artist is at risk of discarding the work that is buried deep within.
His comments about conformity were the most broadly applicable. For Shahn, conformity rarely produced the inspiration needed for art. And yet, the pressure to conform is a normal condition in many organizations or societies. We tend to seek conformity in those around us despite never remembering anyone as 'a great conformist'.
Shahn looks at this situation and considers why conformity is encouraged despite its obvious harm to clear thinking and, as an extension, to creating art. He concludes that the balance of the conservative and the creative is a vital component of successful organizations and healthy societies. If the balance tips too far toward the creative, the correction will enforce conformity upon everyone. But over-correction may mean a temporary halt in the progress of art, growth, and change.
One up: Shahn writes with nuance and balance. He explores how education limits the artist by highlighting the strengths of the educational system. The praise of the non-conformist's accomplishments is framed as a necessary supplement to the contributions of the conformist.
By defining the value inherent at both extremes of opposing approaches, Shahn exemplifies a philosophy that allows different worldviews to coexist by identifying and cultivating the strength of the opposite approach.
One down: Essay collections have their ups and downs. I think it is inherent to the nature of such a work. There is just no way around the fact that a reader will find some portions less interesting than others.
Without a larger narrative structure to contribute to, I can see why some would consider it burdensome to continue reading such essays. I do not think this reality takes anything away from this collection but I suppose the possibility is there for a particular type of reader.
Just saying: For Shahn, the best strategy for any artist is to simply create what one knows. I think his stance on education is swayed by this belief. Most educational programs struggle to nurture the student's ability to form opinions. They opt instead for the cleaner form of instruction seen in fields with defined answers. But without learning to articulate what one believes, the process of creating art is more difficult.
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